Windfall of jobs at resort's newest hotel

Butlins is set to start recruiting for its 20m major new hotel.

A total of 167 jobs with a seven-figure annual wage bill will be created at the visitor attraction when it begins to open in August.

This will be the biggest number of jobs available in one place since the Shoreline Hotel opened in Butlins with some 70 jobs four years ago.

The vacancies on offer range from senior management positions to landscape gardeners and catering staff.

They are arising as the unemployment situation worsens and the national

recession takes hold with probably 1,000-plus people around the town looking for work.

Resort director Jeremy Pardey has pledged to hire people from the Bognor area wherever possible to make as much impact on the town's economy as possible.

"My first point of contact to fill the vacancies is always going to be local people," he stated.

"I would like to start with the managers of the hotel. If they are local, that will set the standard for everyone else.

"As an example, I'm just about to finalise the appointment of the executive head chef who comes from Felpham.

"It's important that we look to the surrounding area for our employees.

"If we want to get positive feelings around the site, then we need to get more people from around it working here.

"They will then act as our champions and spread the word about what Butlins is really like."

Bognor Regis Chamber of Commerce president and chairman Nick Stuart Nicholson said: "This number of jobs being created at the present time of economic doom and gloom has to be good news for Bognor.

"It's been a while since we've had a lot of jobs on offer and it's good that Butlins are prepared to continue investing in their Bognor site. That can only be good for the town as well."

A recruitment plan for the 200-bedroom Ocean Hotel, with its spa facilities, is being prepared by Mr Pardey and his managers.

Recruitment is likely to start in June. "I would expect keen competition for the vacancies," said Mr Pardey. "The more competition there is the higher the standards of those we will take on.

"That is important because we are in a competitive market and we want to give people who stay here a very good experience."

Recruitment for the Ocean Hotel will take place through the local media, the Butlins website and recruitment agencies.

Those taken on for the Ocean Hotel will join the 1,200 staff at Butlins in Bognor in the peak season. That number is likely to increase this summer as the resort benefits from a 30 per cent surge in bookings with English holidays back in fashion.

"There should be a real positive vibe about Butlins and Bognor," Mr Pardey said. "Now is the time for us to come out and be really upbeat about ourselves.

"We are going to have a lot of first-time guests staying here this summer and we want them to come back."

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